Oh fuck you Leshma, you put me on a writing spree again!
I don't really agree with this. Both my experience and actual numbers tend to show that there is little difference between the actual (all variables considered) damage throughput of STR and AGI builds when you don't go out of the 24/15 - 15/24 range, which is I believe the vast majority of the playerbase. STR builds however, can take a lot of punishment.
But I get your point.
You are talking about the difference between 8 PS and 5 PS I assume? Yeah, it's actually not that big. Hitting in the middle of the animation, holding attacks and movement speed can more than make up for this. Which I find cool. But it really becomes broken when you get 10 or more. The main drawback on high STR builds should be the mobility, but as long as you take the longest reaching, swingable, melee weapons (greatswords, glaive and poleaxes) then you are completely fine, because you will never be outreached. Again, not a problem if they could just be shot to death, but since the slow, high damaging guys also have the more health, that also makes them able to soak so many projectiles. Why waste 5 arrows (pluss missed shots) on a slow STR guy when you can kill the 18/18 5 IF guy with two? Also, 90% of the people with a shield is also walking as slow as the STR guys while taking way fewer projectiles. Shields shouldn't slow you down so much.
Doing the right things to max your damage should be rewarded, I actually think they should nerf the damage of the "hit early in animation" (which is why hiltslashing works) high damaging weapons even more. Currently it just makes them as fast as the faster weapons (with sameish damage), but able to do a slower, more damaging, attack too.
Last gen when I was crossbowman I got *name removed* raging on me for surviving 2 hits from his Great Axe, even though he had 8 PS (had 10% left), while I killed him in 3 hits with my military hammer. I tried to explain to him that it was because he was hitting too early in his animations with not held attacks, while I did held attacks, aimed at his head and used his momentum against him. But he just kept ignoring what I wrote and calling me bad names